Thefts Plague Drug Makers
Connecticut Heist Is Latest in Rash of Hits on Trucks, Warehouses
By AMIR EFRATI And JONATHAN D. ROCKOFF
WSJ
When authorities raided the Florida home of Servando Gomez last October, they found hundreds of stolen cigarettes, razor blades and lotions. They also found $10 million worth of prescription drugs, including treatments for heart and skin disorders, that had been stolen from a tractor-trailer truck in Tennessee.
Detectives accused Mr. Gomez, 48, of leading a crime ring responsible for thefts of medicines and consumer goods as far away as Texas and California. Mr. Gomez and another man charged in the case, Denis DeCastro, 39, have pleaded not guilty; a lawyer for the two men didn't respond to requests for comment.
The Florida case is one symptom of a growing menace to drug makers: Criminal gangs that used to steal laptops and fragrances are increasingly targeting high-value painkillers, drugs for erectile dysfunction, antidepressants and other medications, law-enforcement officials say.
Some of the stolen medicine is sold on the black market in the U.S. and abroad, and an undetermined amount makes its way to U.S. pharmacy and hospital shelves.
(More here.)
By AMIR EFRATI And JONATHAN D. ROCKOFF
WSJ
When authorities raided the Florida home of Servando Gomez last October, they found hundreds of stolen cigarettes, razor blades and lotions. They also found $10 million worth of prescription drugs, including treatments for heart and skin disorders, that had been stolen from a tractor-trailer truck in Tennessee.
Detectives accused Mr. Gomez, 48, of leading a crime ring responsible for thefts of medicines and consumer goods as far away as Texas and California. Mr. Gomez and another man charged in the case, Denis DeCastro, 39, have pleaded not guilty; a lawyer for the two men didn't respond to requests for comment.
The Florida case is one symptom of a growing menace to drug makers: Criminal gangs that used to steal laptops and fragrances are increasingly targeting high-value painkillers, drugs for erectile dysfunction, antidepressants and other medications, law-enforcement officials say.
Some of the stolen medicine is sold on the black market in the U.S. and abroad, and an undetermined amount makes its way to U.S. pharmacy and hospital shelves.
(More here.)
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